At War With the Mystics by The Flaming Lips

Pros: Mischievously tweaked rockers collide with deliriously lovely ballads. Very unique and enjoyable.
Cons: Pointless instrumental, dull closing track, pacing problems here and there.

I've gotta admit, this new album from The Flaming Lips was not among my most anticipated albums of the year. Sure, I liked their previous geeky, spacy explorations just fine. I didn't know much about their history, but I found The Soft ...

Pros: The parts that sound like Animals
Cons: The parts that sound like Umma Gumma

"Every time you state your case, the more I want to punch you in the face." Well, okay, I'll give Wayne Coyne credit for succinctly capturing how I feel watching a George W. Bush press conference. And it's not just because I disagree with ...

Pros: The Lips' best record.
Cons: Vein of Stars doesn't quite rise up to the rest.

Please disregard the text of this review. My views on music have changed in recent months. The Flaming Lips have always been, leastly, an interesting band. Even their genesis is worth regaling-----the band ostensibly kicked off in 1983 ...

Pros: The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song
Cons: Not entirely accessible to non-Lips fans

The Flaming Lips' latest trek into retro-futurism, At War With The Mystics, is (yet again) a psychadelic trip with luggage. As with previous Lips work, the music combines trance-like soundscapes with musings on the nature of love and morality. Listening ...

Pros: Good album for fans of the Flaming Lips
Cons: Not necessarily conducive to anyone outside that circle

Despite the infatuation, or perhaps because of, some people have with the Flaming Lips’ previous two albums, The Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, I’ve never thought very highly of them. In my opinion, both these ...

Pros: Some truly outstanding songs
Cons: Some very rotten ones, too

Back in the late 1980s and 1990s, I had a habit of picking up Flaming Lips disc as soon as it was released. I'm out of that habit, however, after having heard the uneven Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots from 2002 and deciding I could pick up new ...